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The Ottomans suffered a tremendous defeat in the Battle of Beirut--one they hoped to avenge immediately. Two Ottoman armies marched on Dampier’s position; one from Egypt, the other from Anatolia. Unfortunately for them, Dampier denied an engagement. He would not fight on their terms.

Meanwhile, after months of blockade, the Mughals agreed to a white peace. They were defeated at sea, like the Moroccans before them.

Hudson had to port at Calicut, for Madras was still under siege. The Danish war in the south of the peninsula neared conclusion. They were the only hope for Madras.

Just as the war with the Mughals ended, it was revealed to be completely fruitless. Despite the fact Tripoli was subordinate to the Commonwealth, they honored their military access treaty with the Ottomans. After securing Egypt, the Turks marched for North Africa.

However, this betrayal created an opening that Dampier was eager to exploit. He sailed for Tunis.

Dampier would reinforce while his enemy marched through the desert. When battle came, Dampier was sure he could remove another Ottoman army from the map.

Though any such battle would be months away. In the mean time, another war captured the attention of the Commonwealth. On February 2nd, 1680, France declared war against Spain.

Portugal, formerly an ally of both France and Spain, sided with their Iberian neighbors. Out of respect for England’s current struggle, France did not call her cross-channel ally to arms. In truth, France felt England’s efforts were better directed against the Turk. France needed help on the battlefield; help that never arrived from England in the previous war. This time, however, the Commonwealth would circuitously help the French war on the ground. By engaging the Ottoman Empire, England freed the armies of Austria to join France in her war against Spain.

House Habsburg, divided

It was an unthinkable turn of events. The Habsburg cousins were at arms, and one on the side of France! To understand this shift of allegiance, one must first look to the Imperial election of the previous year: On February 22nd, 1679, the princedoms of the Holy Roman Empire rebuked Austria and granted the Imperial crown to Savoy.

Denied their long-held and much-enjoyed hegemony, Austria had to redefine its regional diplomacy. With a weak Holy Roman Emperor, conflict between France and Austria would be the only check on their respective expansion. The Archduke of Austria sought to subvert this with an alliance--though he had in mind something more in the nature of a nonaggression pact.

However, France was wary of a fairweather friendship with Austria. The French considered their biggest threat to be Spain. An alliance with a power almost certain not to war with them yielded no benefit. Therefore, the cunning French king demanded a secret provision in the treaty with Austria: one that obligated them to war with Spain within a year.

The Habsburg ruler of Austria was loathe to fight his kin, but practicality won the day. France was his neighbor, and denied the power of the Imperial title this was his new diplomatic reality. Austria and France signed their treaty of allegiance not long after the Imperial election. Thus, a year later, they warred with Spain.

Together they were more than a match for the Spanish Empire.

The early months of the war were familiar for the French. They enjoyed supremacy while securing the Spanish Netherlands, and at the same time were at a disadvantage on the southern frontier.

However, echos of the past were silenced with the introduction of 29,000 Austrians in Franche-Comte.

Already, just three months into the war, French prospects were overwhelmingly promising. They hoped to reverse their previous loss, but they weren’t the only nation with a score to settle. The Dutch Republic viewed this conflagration between France and Spain as their best hope to reclaim their homelands.

On May 18, 1680, the Netherlands declared war on France. Being caught unawares, France called England to arms.

However, England was not quick to answer. There was some debate among the Commonwealth leadership. Rodney was in favor of denying their request and terminating the alliance with France. It existed, he argued, purely as an aggressive alliance against Spain. If France was to war with Spain on their own initiative, with a powerful ally in Austria, the Anglo-French alliance ceased to serve a purpose.

On the other hand, many argued against the dishonorable act of breaching an alliance, especially whilst France waged a monumental war against a mutual foe.

Yet honoring or dishonoring the alliance was only one facet of the debate. The Dutch were the potential enemy. The battlefield would be North America.

Ever since the United Provinces were reduced by France, there had been a segment of Parliament arguing for an Anglo-Dutch War. They reasoned the Dutch no longer had the means to defend their considerable colonial holdings. There was a particular desire to incorporate the New Netherlands, which bisected the Massachusetts Bay Colony from the Chesapeake Bay Colony.

However, again there was a dissenting viewpoint. It was known that the Dutch had a considerable military presence in the New World, a holdover from their campaign against the French. There were questions as to the ability of the Colonial Army to deal with the Dutch Leger.

Furthermore, the Chesapeake Bay Colony was in a precarious state. The provinces therein were developed enough to support an economy, and thus be valuable targets, yet were not developed enough to fortify.

After much debate, Commonwealth leaders reached a compromise. They decided to honor the treaty and engage the Dutch. However, the Anglo-French alliance was to be canceled honorably in peacetime.

This one took quite a while to get out No matter, it was enjoyable nonetheless!

I'm anxious to see how this war against the Dutch goes. Pity that the Netherlands has been dissected by France, and will now likely lose their colonies to England, but alas, 'tis the way it must be I suppose.

A risky move, engaging the Dutch at the same time as you were tied up with the Ottomans, but the possibility of taking New Amsterdam is surely worth it.

Recipient of the 6th ever Irish Shamrock Cookie and a birthday cookie! ●● Thank you King_Richard_XI!

Sir dinofs of Gowin-Fártherr, Duke of Insanity, Lord of Tomfoolery, Spirit of Change, Upsetter of the Status Quo, Reverser of Historical Trends, Defeater of Ming, and All-Around Meddler.
Fan of the week, 1-08-2010!WRITAAR OF THE WEEK 23-05-2010!

Madras ain't looking too pretty, better hope a Stringer Lawrence type holds out longer than you think they can.
And another war this time with the Dutch...hmmm, I echo the above comments about the stretching that will be involved in battling on another continent, while still engaged with the Turk. So good luck.

This one took quite a while to get out No matter, it was enjoyable nonetheless!

I'm anxious to see how this war against the Dutch goes. Pity that the Netherlands has been dissected by France, and will now likely lose their colonies to England, but alas, 'tis the way it must be I suppose.

I'm truly sorry about the delay This update has been 90% finished for almost a month, and I've just now got around to the other ten. The intervening weeks were some of the least productive of my life; wrought with unexpected travel, flight delays, jet lag, illness, and to top it all off medication that prohibited caffeine

Originally Posted by Milites

Ah, Danes taking suzerainty over Tamil Nadu. Just as it should be.

Danes in their India--All's right with the world!

Originally Posted by Omen

Ugh. A war with the Turks and now stretched all the way over to North America. Still, the Commonwealth will prevail!

I sincerely hope so

Originally Posted by robb1993

interesting course of action, i myself would have chosen to dishonour the alliance and fight the turk instead, however if you are a better player than i am so you can probably manage two theatres.

As the fiction states, I was seriously considering denying the call to arms. The RP reasons were mostly what swayed me, but the fact I wouldn't be able to see the Franco-Spanish war as it happened was also a consideration. It's certainly not an ideal situation and I may have bitten off more than I can chew.

Originally Posted by Merrick Chance'

I'm on page 5, but this is a great AAR! One question--what government type are you?

Thanks! Glad to have you aboard, good sir. The government type is Republican Dictatorship. I think the game designers created it specifically with Cromwellian England in mind, evidenced by the fact the title Lord Protector is affixed to the leader.

Originally Posted by dinofs

A risky move, engaging the Dutch at the same time as you were tied up with the Ottomans, but the possibility of taking New Amsterdam is surely worth it.

New Amsterdam is quite the prize, indeed. It's actually the CoT through which all of northeast America trades.

Originally Posted by blsteen

Madras ain't looking too pretty, better hope a Stringer Lawrence type holds out longer than you think they can.
And another war this time with the Dutch...hmmm, I echo the above comments about the stretching that will be involved in battling on another continent, while still engaged with the Turk. So good luck.

I very well may need the luck. Though the Dutch haven't won a war on the continent they've proven themselves capable foes in North America--in Chapter Three I believe. They actually won every battle of the first Franco-Dutch war.

*

Thanks to everyone for the comments and readership! I'd like to apologize again for the long delay! I'm seemingly back on track now so hopefully I can get out a chapter a week, or at the very least have no more than one week between chapters.

Tsk, tsk England! I don't think is would be a good idea to terminate the alliance with the French just yet; knowing luck they'd then bite back and you'll find yourself the enemey of yet another big player.